Grounded Cosmopolitanism and Branded Cities: Australia, Europe and Asia. This project builds on contemporary debates in the social sciences and humanities to forge a new understanding of city identity and the experience of urban residency in key global regions, Australia and Asia, and Europe. It will explore the ways in which regional assumptions can be tested in other locations, against other ecologies of residence, and within other trajectories of theoretical design. It will foster excellent n ....Grounded Cosmopolitanism and Branded Cities: Australia, Europe and Asia. This project builds on contemporary debates in the social sciences and humanities to forge a new understanding of city identity and the experience of urban residency in key global regions, Australia and Asia, and Europe. It will explore the ways in which regional assumptions can be tested in other locations, against other ecologies of residence, and within other trajectories of theoretical design. It will foster excellent new Australian researchers in order to develop postdoctoral research, extending Australian potential for international and regional research leadership.Read moreRead less
New Media in the Urban Village: Mapping Communicative Ecologies and Socio-Economic Innovation in Emerging Inner-City Residential Developments. This study will deliver a better understanding of the factors that stimulate an innovation culture in local communities. It will develop knowledge of how social, cultural, educational, economic capital can be of service in encouraging public consultation, civic engagement and debate, and assist Australians to be creative and innovative in everyday life. U ....New Media in the Urban Village: Mapping Communicative Ecologies and Socio-Economic Innovation in Emerging Inner-City Residential Developments. This study will deliver a better understanding of the factors that stimulate an innovation culture in local communities. It will develop knowledge of how social, cultural, educational, economic capital can be of service in encouraging public consultation, civic engagement and debate, and assist Australians to be creative and innovative in everyday life. Understanding the opportunities of social networks will help Australians negotiate the complex web of daily choices, access a greater social safety net, participate in the socio-cultural and socio-economic life in their city. This will lead to greater social inclusion, fair access to and smart use of local information and services, urban sustainability and healthier local economies.Read moreRead less
Spaces of Becoming: Spatial Strategies and the Formation of Modern Identities in Urban South Asia. The intensification of urbanisation in South Asia calls for new ways of understanding the politics of identity, and social complexity. This project will explore ways in which urban spaces (such as places of worship, streetscapes, markets, festival grounds, procession routes, and 'neighbourhoods') are used by different groups as a fundamental principle of organising social relations, including trans ....Spaces of Becoming: Spatial Strategies and the Formation of Modern Identities in Urban South Asia. The intensification of urbanisation in South Asia calls for new ways of understanding the politics of identity, and social complexity. This project will explore ways in which urban spaces (such as places of worship, streetscapes, markets, festival grounds, procession routes, and 'neighbourhoods') are used by different groups as a fundamental principle of organising social relations, including transmission of culture and creation of identity.
This interdisciplinary project argues that historicism - an exclusive temporal emphasis - can not capture the fundamental relationship between spaces and social processes that shapes contemporary cultural and social complexity in South Asia.
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What is successful public art today?: exploring how contemporary public art and memorial design shapes public engagement, perceptions and behaviour. Much public money is invested in public art and memorials. The research explores critical questions of value: what the public enjoys about such artworks, if and how artworks contribute amenity to public spaces, and whether recent artworks engage effectively with social memory, identity and politics. The research situates local practice within intern ....What is successful public art today?: exploring how contemporary public art and memorial design shapes public engagement, perceptions and behaviour. Much public money is invested in public art and memorials. The research explores critical questions of value: what the public enjoys about such artworks, if and how artworks contribute amenity to public spaces, and whether recent artworks engage effectively with social memory, identity and politics. The research situates local practice within international trends, to inform Australian designers, policymakers, art patrons and public space managers about recent innovations in technology, craft, creativity and critique, so they can create and choose public artworks and memorials which engage with the potentials of contemporary arts practice, the complexities of contemporary culture, and the diversity of social behaviour in public spaces.Read moreRead less
Causes and consequences of population turnover in the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory experiences an extraordinarily high rate of population turnover. Approximately one quarter (compared to less than 10% for most other states) of the Territory's resident population in 2001 had lived somewhere else 5 years earlier. The research will examine the characteristics and causes of this turnover as well as its long-term implications for the composition and associated planning capacity of the N ....Causes and consequences of population turnover in the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory experiences an extraordinarily high rate of population turnover. Approximately one quarter (compared to less than 10% for most other states) of the Territory's resident population in 2001 had lived somewhere else 5 years earlier. The research will examine the characteristics and causes of this turnover as well as its long-term implications for the composition and associated planning capacity of the NT population. Of particular interest is the effect of population transience on the establishment, maintenance, and continuation of knowledge systems, both desert and tropical.Read moreRead less
Bridging worlds, linking cultures: an electronic planning tool for the Western Sydney region. This project aims to address, theoretically and practically, goals and demands for cultural planning in the information age. It will develop principles and procedures for using the immense power of digital resources within a framework that is aware of the richness and diversity of societies, communities and cultures, integrating subjective and objective data holistically into local government planning p ....Bridging worlds, linking cultures: an electronic planning tool for the Western Sydney region. This project aims to address, theoretically and practically, goals and demands for cultural planning in the information age. It will develop principles and procedures for using the immense power of digital resources within a framework that is aware of the richness and diversity of societies, communities and cultures, integrating subjective and objective data holistically into local government planning processes. It will use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) digital infrastructure to develop new information architecture, new interface designs and new strategies to interrogate and use available databases and information systems relevant to regional strategic cultural planning in Greater Western Sydney.Read moreRead less
Gambling-related harm in Northern Australia: A Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based spatiotemporal analysis of venue catchments. There is growing national concern about the impact of electronic gaming (poker) machines yet little is known about the effects of this gambling in rural and remote areas of Australia. We will develop a database to define the geographic distribution of gambling impacts, the nature of high-risk venues, and the characteristics, both spatial and social, of vulnerable ....Gambling-related harm in Northern Australia: A Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based spatiotemporal analysis of venue catchments. There is growing national concern about the impact of electronic gaming (poker) machines yet little is known about the effects of this gambling in rural and remote areas of Australia. We will develop a database to define the geographic distribution of gambling impacts, the nature of high-risk venues, and the characteristics, both spatial and social, of vulnerable communities. This will enable the design of much needed harm minimisation strategies and will provide regulatory bodies with insights into the capacity of local communities to absorb the impact of electronic gaming machine venues.Read moreRead less
Community vulnerability and extreme events: Developing a typology of coastal settlement vulnerability to aid adaptation strategies. Despite uncertainty regarding the manifestations of climate change there is widespread agreement that any impacts will be unevenly shared. The costs to individuals and communities of these uneven outcomes are significant. Crucially, adaptation policy must understand the multi-dimensional nature of these uneven outcomes so as to ameliorate negative costs. In its inte ....Community vulnerability and extreme events: Developing a typology of coastal settlement vulnerability to aid adaptation strategies. Despite uncertainty regarding the manifestations of climate change there is widespread agreement that any impacts will be unevenly shared. The costs to individuals and communities of these uneven outcomes are significant. Crucially, adaptation policy must understand the multi-dimensional nature of these uneven outcomes so as to ameliorate negative costs. In its integration of a multi-method approach to understanding adaptation to extreme weather events in coastal settlements, this project aims to advance understanding of well targeted and effective interventions. It combines the skills and knowledge of researchers trained across a range of disciplines to address these important real world issues.Read moreRead less
Opportunities of Media and Communication Technology to Support Social Networks of Urban Residents in Mexico, South Africa, UK and Australia. This project will build advanced knowledge of how urban neighbourhood communities can be assisted to grow in healthy ways by the use of new media and Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). By careful attention to cultural and social assets in the community, innovations will be engendered which enhance economic and social development. This will ....Opportunities of Media and Communication Technology to Support Social Networks of Urban Residents in Mexico, South Africa, UK and Australia. This project will build advanced knowledge of how urban neighbourhood communities can be assisted to grow in healthy ways by the use of new media and Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). By careful attention to cultural and social assets in the community, innovations will be engendered which enhance economic and social development. This will lead to greater social inclusion, fair access to and smart use of information and services, urban sustainability and healthier local economies. Understanding the opportunities afforded by digital augmentation of social networks will help Australians negotiate the complex web of daily choices, access a greater social safety net and participate in the socio-cultural and socio-economic life of their neighbourhood and city.Read moreRead less
HOMES FOR THE PEOPLE: A STUDY OF THE PETER LALOR HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE, 1947-2004. This project is a comprehensive study of an innovative urban housing development in northern Melbourne. Formed by ex-servicemen who shared a vision of a better future for themselves and their families in post-war Australia, the Peter Lalor Housing Co-operative brought together veterans, the organised labour movement and government in a constructive partnership. The history of the Lalor Co-op and the men and women w ....HOMES FOR THE PEOPLE: A STUDY OF THE PETER LALOR HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE, 1947-2004. This project is a comprehensive study of an innovative urban housing development in northern Melbourne. Formed by ex-servicemen who shared a vision of a better future for themselves and their families in post-war Australia, the Peter Lalor Housing Co-operative brought together veterans, the organised labour movement and government in a constructive partnership. The history of the Lalor Co-op and the men and women who forged a suburb on farmland in the Shire of Whittlesea has been virtually ignored by historians and the significance this important social experiment has been largely lost. It is a story that deserves to be rescued.Read moreRead less